Council tax bills in Brighton and Hove are set to increase by 3.5% next year.

The proposed rise, which was confirmed to The Argus yesterday, comes as families face increased utility bills, soaring food prices and wage freezes.

But Brighton and Hove City Council's Green minority administration says the rise, the maximum possible under Whitehall guidance, is needed to protect the vulnerable from unprecedented Government cuts.

Town hall predictions suggest the rise will be repeated each year until the next local election in 2015.

It comes as other local authorities across the county last night said while they were working for as low a figure as possible, an increase in 2012 was likely.

The revelation by the Greens, just two months after taking charge, comes as the local authority looks to meet Government grant reductions of more than £50 million over the next three years.

It follows a freeze in council tax the first in the city's history for the 2011/12 financial year which was billed by opponents as an election bribe by the then Tory administration.

Read the full story in today's Argus.